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Now assess condition of existing bridges through IBMS

With an inventory of more than 1,35,000 bridges on one single platform, Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) which was launched last year, has now become the largest platform in the world.

IBMS applies a technical logic to manage the bridge assets during its life cycle. It generates a detailed inventory data and condition ratings of assets, ensuring the dynamics of deterioration process are captured. This dynamism, in the deterioration process guides the inspection and rehabilitation of bridges. The system allows the users to assign priority to maintenance activity, based on the present condition of the bridge. The progressive improvement of all bridge assets is ensured over a period of time, as bridges that are in a very bad condition are first rehabilitated before the less damaged ones.

A structural condition assessment of all bridges was carried out and they were rated on a scale of 0 to 100 based on their structural health condition and socio-economic conditions. A bridge with a rating point of less than 75 is considered critical and specific tests are conducted again to determine repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction requirements.

Development of the system itself came with a set of challenges. Creating a system to manage such a large number of assets where the field studies could be conducted with minimum efforts while collecting maximum details was a daunting task. The first step in inventory creation was giving all bridges a ‘Unique Identity Number’. Then, their precise location details, in form of latitude and longitude, had to be collected in an auto-mode using the ground positioning system. Following the successful collection of these details, the engineering properties of the bridge design, material and other technical details of the bridge were recorded.

Once the data is collected, the bridges are given a structural component on a scale of 0 to 9. This is done to define the status of various bridge components like foundation, piers, super structure, deck, scour rating, waterway adequacy, structural status and also of its socio- economic parameter, which determines the importance of the bridge, in relation to its contribution to daily social and economic activity of the area in its immediate vicinity.